Romance Audiobooks discussion

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Archives > Fundraiser in honor of Audiobook Producer Needs Listener's input please!

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message 1: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments (Lea, please let me know if this belongs in a different thread...)

Audiobook Fans:
I have a request for you all. A dear friend and colleague, beloved in the audiobook production community, is battling ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease). His name is Bob Deyan, and while you may not have heard of him, his company Deyan Audio has probably produced at least one if not dozens of the books that you’ve listened to. Their production facility is in Los Angeles, where they cast, record, do research for, edit and master audiobooks for all the major publishers. Here’s their website:
http://deyanaudio.com/credits.html

In support of his battle, and to help him raise money to research ALS treatment (which, sadly, will likely not help him personally), a group of narrators are organizing a fundraiser, in two parts. One is a live 24-hour read-a-thon in Los Angeles, the other is an online auction of unique audiobook-related items. Both will take place the first week of November.

In order to make the auction a success, we’re looking for input. What sort of items would you, as serious audiobook fans, bid on? We will take any and all ideas and do our best to find or create or convince someone to commit to such items.

For instance, would you be interested in:
o audiobook collections/series (what are your favorites)
o autographed audiobooks
o Narrators of note (who is this to you?) recording your voicemail greeting personalizing a story for you/other suggestions?
o any other ideas???

I will pass on more specifics as I get them, but we really appreciate your input at this stage.


message 2: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments Karen, I don't have any ideas- I like all the ones you listed- but want to say thank you for bringing a great opportunity for giving to the attention of this forum. We are so lucky to have creative people working in an industry we love so I look forward to participating in both events come November.


message 3: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 535 comments Hi Karen, I just wanted to say I am very sorry about your friend's illness. I have one idea, sort of a spin on the ideas you already mentioned. An autographed copy of a series could end up a big ticket item. For instance, I am a mad fan of JD Robb's In Death series. I own all of them in ebook and audio, and love the narrator. I am but one of a huge group of people who are obsessed with the series. If you were to focus on a series like this, meaning one with obsessed fans, the bidding could get excited. Maybe even, a series for different genres/ age groups. Just an idea, again I am very sorry about your friend. My grandmother had ALS and I know what the disease can be like.


message 4: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments Lee wrote: "Karen, I don't have any ideas- I like all the ones you listed- but want to say thank you for bringing a great opportunity for giving to the attention of this forum. We are so lucky to have creative..."
Thanks for your support, Lee. I will definitely post the details of the events when I have them.


message 5: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments Dawn wrote: "Hi Karen, I just wanted to say I am very sorry about your friend's illness. I have one idea, sort of a spin on the ideas you already mentioned. An autographed copy of a series could end up a big t..."
Thanks, Dawn.
Do you think having the author's, narrator's, or both signatures would be most valued?
I'd love to hear suggestions of more specific series from listeners as well.
I don't know if this disease is becoming more widespread or I am just hearing about it more now that my awareness is raised, but it is a torturous one and I hope that more research can at least ease some suffering.


message 6: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 535 comments Wow, I think it would be more valuable with both signatures, but if it is a series I continue to purchase, then I have to like the book and the narrator. So I would bid with just the narrator.

My grandmother had this disease in the late '70's. I also know it is one of the diseases covered under the umbrella of Muscular Dystrophy. Very good luck with the auction.


message 7: by Lori (new)

Lori | 11 comments Karen,
I like Dawn's idea as well. It would be fantastic to have the author as well as the narrator's signature on the audiobooks as a huge incentive for bidding. I would also suggest that once won, the narrator can customize the set by adding a personal voice acknowledgment such as a "thanks for the support, ____."

Some of the author/narrator (series) combos suggestions are:
Darynda Jones/Lorelei King (Charlie Davidson)
J.K. Rowling/Jim Dale (Harry Potter)
Nalini Singh/Justine Eyre (Guild Hunter)
Nalini Singh/Angela Dawe (Psy-changeling)
Jacquelyn Frank/Xe Sands (The World of Nightwalkers, Nightwalker, and Shadowdweller)
Lisa Kleypas/Rosalyn Landor (WallFlower, The Hathaways)
Veronica Roth/Emma Galvin (Divergent)
Kresley Cole/Robert Petkoff (Immortals After Dark)
...just to name a few;)

Sets are nice because it's a large item that you can really focus on and the sets I mentioned above are those that are amazing series, content-wise, with fabulous narrators that add a lot to the story.

Other ideas for the auction:
Win a visit to a recording studio to see how audiobooks are made.
Win a Facetime or Skype interview with your favorite narrator.
Win gift cards from publishing companies that you can purchase audiobooks.
Win a chance to narrate for a minor character.

I hope this helps and I'm sorry your friend is ill. It is always difficult when someone close to you is sick, but it's even more frustrating when medical science is not yet on par with the disease state. Good luck in you endeavors.


message 8: by Kelli (new)

Kelli (oddiophile) It's too bad audiobooks are often so locked down with DRM. I'd actually bid on audio bookplates: customized snippets of a narrator saying "This audiobook is from the library of Kelli Nichols" that I could append to the start of my audiobooks. But then I'm kinda cheesy that way about audiobooks ;)


message 9: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments Thanks Kelli and Lori for these suggestions, I am passing them along today!
I love the "bookplate" or dedication idea, but I think copyright laws might limit us there. A Skype interview is totally do-able, though! Will let the committee figure out the others :)


message 10: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments Hello all,
I have info below on the benefit.
There is online auction at
www.32auctions.com/audiobooks
New items added every day, and there are all sorts of things to bid on (not just audiobooks!). It's live now.

And, if you are in Los Angeles, come to the Audiobook Marathon LIVE! on Nov 9-10th.
www.audiobooks.brownpapertickets.com
If you buy a ticket and attend, you will receive a free download on Audible.com! So, you are actually MAKING money on your ticket purchase! All different genres will be presented during the 25 hour marathon, so choose your favorite and come hear some great books!

Enjoy! And please pass this along if you know anyone who might be interested!

There is also a way to donate directly at http://bit.ly/19RSlXP

Thanks!!


message 11: by Xe (new)

Xe Sands (xesands) | 369 comments Kelli wrote: "It's too bad audiobooks are often so locked down with DRM. I'd actually bid on audio bookplates: customized snippets of a narrator saying "This audiobook is from the library of Kelli Nichols" that ..."

I *love* this idea...would be very cool indeed.


message 12: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments If you haven't logged on to the bidding site yet, be sure you do! So much cool stuff. I just wish I lived close enough to take advantage of someof the La and NY items- especially the meeting with Barbara Rosenblat. Thanks for keeping us up to date on this, Karen.


message 13: by Karen (new)

Karen White (karenwhiteaudiobooknarrator) | 145 comments Lee wrote: "If you haven't logged on to the bidding site yet, be sure you do! So much cool stuff. I just wish I lived close enough to take advantage of someof the La and NY items- especially the meeting with B..."
Thanks, Lee! Happy to do so. I'd love to have lunch with Barbara myself. She is a hoot.


message 14: by Lea's Audiobooks (new)

Lea's Audiobooks Hensley (leahensleysaudiobooks) I have been watching the auction and hope to win something before it is over. If you haven't checked it out yet, I encourage you to do so! I have my eye on the 4 Julie James signed titles or the Karen Marie Moning selection or the JD Robb collection or the 10 credits from Downpour...


message 15: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 535 comments Lea....good luck on the JD Robb set, I posted this in our group chatterbox...we have over 700 obsessive fans over there lol


message 16: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments Bidding ends today at 6pm (PST)_ there are some cool items in the running!


message 17: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments Just looked at the website and almost everything sold! I was tickled to have the winning bid for the 32 JD Robb audiobooks.


message 18: by Lea's Audiobooks (new)

Lea's Audiobooks Hensley (leahensleysaudiobooks) Lee wrote: "Just looked at the website and almost everything sold! I was tickled to have the winning bid for the 32 JD Robb audiobooks."
Ha! So you are the one who outbid me! :) Enjoy!


message 19: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 535 comments WTG Lee...I already own them all, but was still very tempted.


message 20: by Lee (last edited Nov 13, 2013 06:05AM) (new)

Lee | 484 comments Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Lee wrote: "Just looked at the website and almost everything sold! I was tickled to have the winning bid for the 32 JD Robb audiobooks."
Ha! So you are the one who outbid me! :) Enjoy!"

I was afraid of that! In my defense, I am about to start driving 70+ miles one way to work so I need all the help I can get :-) Would have loved to have bid on the lunch with Barbara Rosenblatt- if only I lived in NYC. Thanks again to Karen White for bringing this event to our attention.


The Romance Evangelist (mharvey816) | 5 comments Yay, I won the Julie James audiobook set! Worth every penny.


message 22: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments Michele wrote: "Yay, I won the Julie James audiobook set! Worth every penny."
It was so hard to choose- I felt like a kid in an audiobook candy store.


message 23: by Lee (new)

Lee | 484 comments So excited-had to share- the In Death audiobooks arrived today with the letter from Susan Ericksen. It's like Christmas at Thanksgiving.


message 24: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 535 comments Oh, I should have bid harder. :)


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